Clearing the way: How Nuevo Futuro supports Oregon families

“The most important thing people can do is put themselves in the shoes of people experiencing hunger and have more empathy.” — Liliana Beltran Torres

As a food distribution coordinator and community health worker, Liliana Beltran Torres supports rural Latiné families across Clackamas County. She belongs to the Nuevo Futuro program at AntFarm Youth Services, an organization that helps build healthy communities, support young people and their families, and promotes sustainability through education and practice. Her role is to connect families to the resources available to them, including help with food, rent and utilities.

Liliana is motivated by her desire to help others, a seed planted early on by her mother: “My mother is a single mom, and she raised nine kids all by herself. I saw day in and day out, she would get up early, she would work, and she never, ever left us without eating, not even one day. We went through a lot of hardship, and my mom worked so hard just to feed all of us. And I don't want any other family to have to go through that.”

In 2024, as part of a pilot project with Oregon Food Bank, Nuevo Futuro launched a twice-monthly food distribution program at AntFarm in Estacada. Serving mainly Latiné families, they offer food that feels like home, such as fresh onions, potatoes, pears, watermelon and masa. Liliana considers the program a success. “Families can use maseca [corn masa flour] to make tamales, a deeply traditional dish in our culture, as well as tortillas. These dishes help them keep their culture alive and share it with their children and families.”

After launching a successful food distribution, AntFarm is on their way to becoming a partner agency of Oregon Food Bank as part of our Pathway to Partner Agency Cohort. This pathway program provides resources and coaching to organizations like Nuevo Futuro to become independent, self-sufficient organizations.

And Nuevo Futuro provides more than just food. “Nuevo Futuro empowers Latino families by providing information to help them find new opportunities,” Liliana explained. We provide health education classes, including mental health prevention workshops, HIV prevention sessions, and Active Parenting courses designed to strengthen family relationships and skills. Additionally, we offer English classes to help families learn a new language and expand their opportunities in both their professional and personal lives.

Lucia Naranjo, a client of Nuevo Futuro, described the impact the food distribution has had on her family: “For me the program has been excellent. It has met my needs, such as food and financial help, to support my family. It helps me feel supported and that I am not alone. The hope is to have a plate of food for our children.”

Many of us know the struggle to make ends meet. “The people I work with live in rural communities, and many of them work on farms and in restaurants. And I see this imbalance,” Liliana explained. “I see families with single parents and families that have an elderly family member living with them. They get up very early in the morning, they go to work, and still — working as hard as they do, getting up as early as they do — they are not able to meet their basic needs.”

Liliana points out that there are widespread misconceptions that people experiencing hunger don’t work hard enough or should do more to improve their lives. But we know those aren’t the real problems, or the real solutions, to hunger.

Legislation like Food for All Oregonians will address hunger’s root causes for thousands of immigrants who are ineligible for federal food assistance like SNAP (formerly known as food stamps). “These are families with small children,” Liliana says of the clients at Nuevo Futuro. “Food for All Oregonians could reduce the need for parents to work long hours or double shifts, allowing them to spend more time with their families.”

GET INVOLVED IN FOOD FOR ALL OREGONIANS

Long before she joined Nuevo Futuro, Liliana volunteered at a high school in Estacada, where weeds had grown so high they blocked a path leading to the school. So, Liliana worked with a group of volunteers — including young people and elders — for several weeks to clear those weeds. Liliana says the group’s enthusiasm to make a difference has stayed with her.

Today, at Nuevo Futuro, Liliana is still clearing paths — this time for Latiné families. Like she did years ago at that high school, Liliana and others at Nuevo Futuro work together every day to strengthen their communities. Just as she once worked to remove the weeds that stood in students’ way, she and her colleagues now work every day to clear barriers with food, resources and support. Together, they help families find their way forward, making a stronger future visible.

FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT ANTFARM YOUTH SERVICES